task 3

Post a proposal for your Level 5 essay on to your CTS blogs. This proposal should clearly outline what you are intending to study and include  

Title - Do brands have control over our society?  

I want to look into the relationship of power between our society and brands with reference to changing world of fashion. In the essay I will discuss individuality, advertisements, manipulation, power, control, vulnerabilty and the possibilty of change.    

Kalle Lasn (2000). culture jam. US: Eagle Brook. 
Really interesting book on branding. It'll help with creating a better understanding of the power of brands & will hopefully open my eyes to the change that could potentially happen if we stood up against branding.

Naomi Klein (2010). no logo. london: fourth estate
An insight into mass marketing and the anti-corporate activism.

Wally Olins (2005). on brand. london: thames and Hudson
This book will help me understand how brands are so successful.

Kidd, W, (2002) 'Culture and Identity', Warren Kid
I'm expecting this to aid me with looking at our society and the effect branding has on it.

Foucault, M, (2005) 'Materialism and education'
Really interesting theories that will aid my argument and open points of discussion.

Adbusters. campaigns: http://www.adbusters.org/blogs. 
Really respect what Adbusters stand for and the campaigns they create, such as 'Buy Nothing Day'. There will definitely be some interesting points of consumerism.

task 1

Choose an example of one aspect of contemporary culture that is, in your opinion, panoptic. Write an explanation of this, in approximately 200-300 words

 



I've chosen to discuss speed cameras as an aspect of our culture that works in a panoptic nature to enforce authority. Speed cameras were set up in order to regulate the speed of which you're traveling and to improve general road safety. The reason this has been successful in creating this control derives from the idea that 'visibilty is a trap' (Foucault, 1977)

Speed cameras are placed adjacent to the road on which you're traveling and point into the direction of the car that's approaching. The intention of this is to create 'a society of self-regulating, docile bodies in fear of exposure- of themselves or of their deviant actions.' (Foucault, 1977) In other words, to acheive a form of obedience within society, people must feel that there's a sense of high-ranking power that has a watchful eye on their behavior. Speed cameras do this effectively. When approaching a camera, a driver tends to get 3 visual warnings that a camera is coming up. This means that a driver uses this time to adjust their speed in order to meet the standards of the requested speed limit. Although there is a large percentage of the worlds populations that exceed the speed limit, most of these people will slow down when approaching a camera as it becomes apparent that their action are being observed.

Jeremy Bentham developed the Panopticon in which cells are arranged around a central tower containing guards. Each cell would be exposed to the rest of the building populace ensuring that not only do the prisoners feel a sense of vulnerability but they're completely exposed. It's this exposure that creates a certain insecurity leading people to act in a way in which they think will acceptable in society. As Foucault states, 'Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility thats assures the automatic functioning of power.' (Foucault, 1977)

Personally what I find most interesting about Panopticism is that no-one actually forces this control. By simply having a watchful eye over someone you can control and regulate their actions in a way that creates dominance. People become so aware of how they 'should' act and in a sense lose that autonomy or that freedom. 'He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power,' (Foucault, 1977) touches on the idea that in order for someone to have supremacy, you must allow them of this.

Speed cameras are one of many ways in which disciplinary mechanisms  are applied in our society, in order to achieve the ostensible 'utopia of a perfectly governed city.' (Foucault, 1977)

panopticism notes

- the transaction from physical to mental control

- turning you into a productive person of society

- to conform and control

- PANOPTICON, Jeremy Beniham, 1791.

-designing a building to make people more productive, fro schools, hospitals etc.

-cannot see anyone else, productivity through isolation. constantly visible. power. constantly illuminated.

- power is a relationship. for someone to gain power, there must be someone allowing them to have the control.

-e.g. feminism, women in the past have allowed men to have that hierarchy of power

- CCTV, Facebook, twitter, gym, 5 a day, alcohol units, speed cameras.

-you don't know if there are actually a camera inside.

- self regulation.

-no need to be directed/controlled.

-acting in a way that others would approve of e.g. politicians

- educational institution, teaching people to be a certain way

- turning you into a docile body

TASK
write a 300 word analysis of something panoptic in our world
take 5 quotes from the text.

mass production notes

TECHNOLOGY - REPRODUCTION

- there's an argument that the copy challenges the status of the original &/OR there's a theory that it validates the original
- looking at the idea of the original and the copy
- Walter Benjamin, 'the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction'
- looking at how technology effects traditional art. more of a discussion of humanity and social philosophy
- although copies of art have always occurred, technology allows faster and more accurate copies of art
- access to information got spread
- taking art out of tradition

 aura, associated with painting: tradition, original, creativity, genius, value, mystery, authority

analysis of part XII:
- mechanical reproduction has a large influence on how a painting should be viewed. you lose that direct visual contact
- by taking away the specificity of an audience, you're effecting the social reaction. it becomes less exclusive and this could have an effect on the way someone views the art
- it changes how you interprate it. are you there to enjoy it or criticise it
- the way other people see it is going to effect the way you see it. they end up controlling eachother
- people are trying to cater to the masses but in actual fact they are taking away that exclusiveness of a painting and that personal perception of it therefore decreasing the value of the painting itself
- rather then looking at the social effect producing art for the masses has, it becomes more interesting when a painting becomes exclusive as it then changes it's social reaction
- although paintings began to be publicly exhibited, they weren't produced for the masses to organise themselves but some of the public to simply visit the gallery or salon they were put into
- with art being produced in the masses, it allows people to respond in the same manor to that they would of a film. it's less personal and less direct

Ideology notes

Ideology

- "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it", Marx k
- marxism, a political manifesto, leading to socialism, communism and the twentieth century conflicts between capital and labour
- a philosophical approach to the social sciences, which focusses on the role of society in determining human behaviour.
- capitalism. the society that we live in (west) control if the means of production in private hands, a market where labour power is bought and sold, production of commodities for sale, use of money as means of exchange, competition.
- primitive communism; as seen in cooperative tribal societies.
- salve society; develops when the tribe becomes a city-state. birth of aristocracy.
- feudalism; aristocracy becomes the ruling class. merchants develop into capitalists.
- capitalism; capitalists are the ruling class
- socialism; workers gain class
- communism; classless/stateless society
- Marx argues that society can be broken down into two categories, base & superstructure. you got the forces of production/relations of production & then you have the social institutions, forms of consciousness.
- everything can be traced back to class/gender/race. it supposedly merges from a certain social attitude. art, science, lawyer etc
- "The mode of production of material life conditions the social, political and intellectual life process in general", marx, 1857
- religion could be thought to be the ultimate sort of trap for the worker, like a mental control.it gives people a motivation/hope
- distort, masking, selection of ideas to reinforce power relations through creation of false consciousness
- "religion is the opiate of the masses", marx, 1843
- art as ideology. art was always the rich class as they had to be educated, women were never allowed to be artists (white rich men) wealthy people were the ones buying the art. it's how the higher class thinks. art is used in an ideological way. art being used to make people think in a certain way.
- Althusser, ideology becomes a mechanism by which we live our lives
- it seems to offer reasons for why we are in our situation.
- media creates a false consciousness
- the working class are being fed what the upper class assume they are interested in, meaning that they know what they are fed.
- thus instead of being intensified by what they produce, people are made to identify themselves by what they consume, Williemson, 1978
- Sao Paulo has supposedly banned advertising due to the fact thats its a visual pollution

Essay #2

Choosing a particular period from 1800 to the present, in what ways has art or design responded to the changing social and cultural forces of that period?

The term 'Impressionism' came from the art critic Louis Leroy, after viewing Claude Monet's "Sunrise", painted in 1873, and classing it as an 'Impression'. In fact, the true purpose of Impressionism was to capture an exact moment in time, looking at the qualities of light, tone and colouring, in order to portray a specific sensation that would have been received from the changing world around them. At the time, Paris was experiencing exciting developments in urbanisation, industrialisation and economic growth. These paintings were a personal response to a new lifestyle. In particular, Gustave Caillebotte's "Paris street; rainy day", 1877, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Bal du moulin de la galette", 1876, clearly display this practise.

The impressionists' focus was to capture the new, changing and exciting lifestlye of Paris. During this period, the Haussmann Plan was taking place; a modernisation programme. Napoleon III commissioned Georges-Eugene Haussmann to plan the update of this city. This consisted of creating straight roads along with increasing the width and length of the boulevards themselves. There was also large areas where the boulevards crossed, creating grande areas of social interaction. It was this leisure that Robert L. Herbert discusses in Impressionism. New places of leisure were built, such as parks. In general, there was an improved way of life, whether it was the increased hygiene or fashionable areas to socialise. The term 'flaneur' was used, meaning to casually stroll or wonder and its clear that this new leisurely lifestyle occurred due to urbanization. 

This, however, was not the only exciting occurrence in Paris at the time. Industrialisation was taking place, meaning new railway lines able to take Parisians to and from leisurely places. This seemed to provoke a sense of freedom, creating action and  activity amongst the social happenings in Paris. I believe it was this freedom that encouraged these artists to paint en plein air, making these social gatherings easily access-able, allowing the artist to really capture the atmosphere. Photography and cinema were part of the new fashionable lifestyle and this was highly influential on several paintings. Paris was full of excitement and adventure and it was this sensation that inspired the Impressionist artists to develop a new style of painting.

To understand something new, one must be aware of what is considered different. Rejected by the officials at the Paris salon, the Salon des Refuses became the place that the impressionist painters exhibited their work. These paintings got rejected due to the fact that they didn't stick to traditional painterly techniques. Rather then using a fine brush, the new technique consisted of thick brushstrokes, along with a clear display of rapidity of process. Attention to the changing quality of light seemed to be the main focus of the paintings. This obviously coincides with the idea of capturing a specific moment in time. The subject matter itself also changed. Rather then focusing in on people and characteristics, the subject matter changed into a visual account of a specific atmosphere/scene. Paintings became less about people themselves and more about the new way of life in Paris. As Charles Baudelaire in The Painter of Modern Life stated, "It is doubtless an excellent thing to study the old masters in order to learn how to paint; but it can be no more then a waste of labour if your aim is to understand the special nature of present day beauty". 

One artist in particular who I feel really displays a response to the changing social and cultural forces would be Claude Monet. As stated earlier, it was his painting of, "Impression, sunrise" that created the term Impressionism. When compared to traditional techniques of painting, it is quite apparent why this term was chosen by Louis Leroy. The painting rejects any form of traditional artwork, with the new use of rapid, thick brushstrokes, attention to the scientific use of colour and a new subject. To really capture the moment of the sun setting, Monet would've had to have a knew understanding of the use of colour. He worked out that shadow isnt not in fact black, but made up of a selection of colours, mainly blue and purple. By contrasting the use of what would've probably been cadmium orange and  ultramarine blue, being complimentary colours, the painting radiates with the warmth of the setting sun. In terms of a new composition, the background is made up of horizontal and vertical strokes, which represent land, factories and boats in the distance. This lack of attention to detail shows the importance of the attention to light for the impressionist painters. 

Similarly, with "Autumn effect at Argenteuil", 1873, Monet used the complimentary colours of blue and orange to create this landscape painting. Traditionally landscape paintings contained quite dull colouring, normally with plenty of greens and browns, as so this was seen as a new and exciting portrayal of this subject. Another reason why this stood out was because there doesn't seem to be a distinct differentiation between the foliage and the water. Here, you can see Monet is really paying attention to portaying this truth to nature. It's something new, experimenting with compositional layout and optical perception.

When at looking at the new social happenings in Paris, Renoir showed quite an interest. "Bal du Mouline de la Galette", 1877, was painted in order to capture the joy and the excitement in the garden at Butte Monmartre. This was a fashionable and popular place to go to socialise and celebrate the new and improved Paris. Renoir shows this by looking at vibrant colouring, along with attention to not the people themselves, but the way that light is falling on the scene. Renoir did in fact have friends at this social gathering, but instead the focus is on light. This way the viewer is able to get an idea of the atmosphere of the evening. Note the fact that Renoir would've been sitting at the garden itself and by using this composition and colouring you become aware of the personal response of the artist. 

Above is Edouard Manet's, "Bar a la Folies-Bergere", 1882, used in order to make a quick comparison between two different responses to the new way of life. As you can see, the key focus of this painting appears to not be about light, but instead about this supposed bar maid. Centrally placed, the woman appears to look troubled or vacant. You find yourself trying to analyse the background story to this female, compared to 

Caillebotte's "Paris street, Rainy day", 1877, is a slightly different response to the impressionist. It's purpose is the same, in the sense that its a response to the changed city, however, the focus appears to be more on the physical changes, such as new streets and technology, rather than the new social buzz. There are no rapid brushstrokes or simplified objects. The thing that stands out the most for me with this painting, is the modern composition. It's one of those that you'd find on a developed photograph. The whole scene seems cinematic. Not only does it display the new layout of the widened boulevards, but it contains cropped figures and the idea of focus; just like a camera would. If anything, this painting is a celebration of the developing world and technology.

"Gare Saint'lazare", painted in 1877 by Monet, is another display of the pysical change of the face of Paris. However, Monet, being an impressionist, wanted to portray the excitement of the scene and so the attention is on light and colour. This is backed up in Christoph Heinrich's Caldue Monet. This was one of 11 in a series of paintings of the train station and therefore Monet displays his intense fascination with the changing qualities of light. For example, whilst comparing the cold, blue coloured smoke in the foreground to the warm looking building in the background, you can see that Monet is really playing around with colouring. Here they're used in ways that would've come as quite a shock to traditional artists.

In a similar way to how photography captures a moment, the Impressionists wanted to portray a new city atmosphere onto canvas. Subject matter changed, moving away from individuals and onto a social setting, simply containing Parisians. With an improved arrangement of boulevards, heightened technology and a new sense of freedom of leisure, Paris was one of the most exciting cities in the world. Throughout the city, there would've been a sort of rush of excitement. People could travel to different areas of France with ease. It was a new place of adventure and it as this that sparked artists such as Monet and Renoir to have a strong focus on representing this atmosphere, largely looking at light and using colour. Vibrant colouring was used and contrasted, such as "Autumn effect at Argenteuil" in order to create that intensity and harmonious flow of colour and excitement at these new scenes within the city. Rather then sticking to traditional techniques whilst painting what they saw, such as Manet, these artists wanted something more modern and different. They accepted the fact that their work would be displayed in the Salon des Refuses and instead set out to display their own responses to these happenings. They purposely played around and ignored rules and set out to do something different. The paintings, in my opinion, successfully represent the sensation and the city atmosphere that would've been felt throughout Paris at the time. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Charles-Pierre Baudelaire (2010). The Painter of Modern Life. London: Penguin Books
• Roberts Herbert (1991). Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society . UK: Yale University Press
• Jessica Gunderson (2008). Impressionism. UK: The Creative Company
• Howard Saalman (1971). Haussmann: Paris Transformed . UK: G. Braziller
• Christoph Heinrich (2000). Claude Monet, 1840-1926 . UK: Taschen
• Ambroise Vollard (1990). Renoir: An Intimate Record . UK: Courier Dover Publication
• http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/learn-about-art/guide-to-impressionism/guide-to-impressionism
• http://www.columbia.edu/itc/architecture/ockman/pdfs/dossier_4/Baudelaire.pd
• http://www.intermonet.com/
• Meyer Schapiro (1997 ). Impressionism: Reflections and Perceptions . University of Michigan: George Braziller

TASK 5: Graphic design & deconstructivism

Typography assists in the legibility of a body of text. More specifically, it focuses on the flow of text, like a guidance of content. It moves away from the idea that text is a solid, and looks at it more in a fluid motion. 

Originally, a piece of writing had character, whether it was hand written or simply full of mistakes. It was technology that took the uniqueness out of the text, creating new conformities. Text was standardised and there was a certain appearance to it that people would expect to see.  Text needed to be able to speak for itself, as a flow of information, as apposed to a solid block of words. Type was placed on a page with purrpose and relation the subject matter itself, rather then the standardised type that conformed to these supposed new rules. As Ellen Lupton states, "The written word loses its connection to the inner self". 

This individulatity of text is perceived with several qualities of typography. Firstly you've got the spacing between words. It was the philosopher Jacques Derrida who stated even the alphabet doesn't function without spacings and marks. If you listen to speech itself it's very fluid in sound. People dont tend to pick up of the breaks and gaps between words. These spacings in text have become highly important in every day text. An example of this from 'Thinking with Type':

"Tryreadingalineoftextwithoutspacingtoseehowimportantithasbecome" 

Typography wanted to enhance the readers experience, showing them that they're not trapped within the linear rules of text. They wanted to create an escape to the supposed perfect and fixed text, whether its the fixed pages in a book, or the text that runs along the bottom of the screen when watching the news. Although most web designs tend to stick to these linear 'rules', many are more inventive and nowadays you're getting software that encourages one to be experimental and inventive. 

Database and narrative are natural enemies. Competing for the same territory of human culture, each claims an exclusive right to make meaning of the world. Lev Manovich, 2002

Nowadays, there's a push for space driven type rather then type driven by line. It creates a higher importance with the reader then it does with the actual writer, as it focuses more on the meaning of the text itself, like an interpretation of a piece of music.

One of the main points to make from it all is that the medium isn't necessarily as important as the message itself. The modernist designer is aware that the 'white space' on a page can hold just as much significance as the printed area on a page. It's how you look to use the space when relating to a specific piece of type that creates an interesting page design aswell as an interesting read. Typography therefore highlights the indiviuduality of a page or product. There are no set rules or boundries but simply guidlines when it comes to speech and type and as a graphic designer, communicating effectively is of the upmost importance.

----------------------------------

Ed Fella (1938), poster for Cal Arts Anniversary

http://butdoesitfloat.com/44995/Reduce-to-the-Max

Graphic Designer, Ed Fella (1938) was highly influential in typography. This piece of design displays the qulaities of deconstruction, with lack of standardised order, fluidity, type that expresses the creativity of the subject itself, attention to the space on the page is also apparent. Like with deconstruction, the typography mirrors the purpose. 

TASK 3: Avante gardism

THE AVANTE GARDE

The term Avante Garde introduces and explores cutting-edge art. Here, for example, United Colours of Benetton display a new and different approach when it comes to this design. This poster immediately captures the attention of the viewer, due to the fact that this technique is not one that people would be used to seeing. Another belief of the Avante Garde is that design should have purpose/intention and this campaign obviously set out to look at the issue of racism. Its a shocking yet powerful piece of communication, and in my opinion, the reaction wouldn't have been achieved if the traditional techniques of design were used. It could be said that Avante Gardism is about the evolution in communication.

This piece of graphic design displays several characteristics of Avante Gardism. Firstly, its very direct, addressing the viewer as 'you' and informing them about a global issue. It seeks to create awareness and eventually change. Secondly this poster contains dramatic imagery, looking to shock. Also, another key point is that its not necessarily the message itself that makes it Avante Garde but the way in which the message is delivered. In terms of communication, its pretty simple and rather blunt, but its this that makes it an effective piece of communication. 

Avante Gardism addresses the idea of the artist having a sort of social power. In other words, they have the ability to communicate specific issues in quite dramatic ways. Although many were considered shocking, the message itself got delivered effectively through dramatic imagery or direct speech. The Avante Garde searches for the ultramodern and dissimlar form of design that tends to have high impact. As the tate moder states, "The term avant-garde is more or less synonymous with modern". 

TASK 4: Postmodernist graphic design

The Sex Pistols Anniversary 1977-2007

http://www.sexpistolsanniversary.co.uk/

Moving away from the conformities of design. Anti-patriotic. The poster has texture along with quite bold, block colouring, both qualities being characteristics of postmodern design.

Reid, J (1977) 'Album Cover'

 http://gds.parkland.edu/gds/!lectures/history/1975/postmodern.html

Experimental with type, a key feature of postmodernist design. Bold, block colouring. A modern twist to traditional materials. Dramatic layout, not conforming to the traditional techniques, mirroring the punk rock social attitude at the time.

Reid,J (1977),Cover of God Save The Queen http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/Documents/Images/About%20Design/Types%20of%20design/Graphic%20design/GodSaveQueen_275.jpg

Again, very experimental in composition etc rebelling against the norm. New, exciting, shocking..

Greiman, A (1979) Wet Magazine cover

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/356421/67511/Cover-for-WET-magazine-designed-by-April-Greiman-1979

Playful with colour combinations, layout, materials, imagery. Its an individual piece of design in the sense that they are experimenting and using the old to make something new.

Sex Pistols, God Save The Queen (1970s)

http://www.theage.com.au/news/people/sex-pistols-sell-out/2006/03/10/1141701665565.htm

Block, bright colours. That punk-like texture/materials used. Sense of being a bit of a rebel with the 'bollocks'. 

TASK 2: Modernist graphic design

Stepanova, V (1932), 'The Results of the First Five-Year Plan'

http:farm4.static.flickr.com/3549/3381489212_9fbe65705c.jpg?v=0

 Photomontage was a key characteristic in the modernist design. This also displays the social events that were occurring at the time. It communicates a message through dramatic imagery, composition and colouring. 

Beck, H (1933), 'London Underground Tube Map'

http://www.forth.fi/underground_beck.jpg

Form follows function. Simple shapes that are understood world wide. Colour coded. Effective form of communication!

Allner, W (1953), 'fortune cover'

 http://30gms.com/permalink/walter_allner/

No extra detail, simplified form. Block colouring. The image is relevant to the text and therefore communicates simply yet effectively. 

El Lissitzky (1923), For the Voice

http://www.nikibrown.com/designoblog/2009/08/31/el-lissitzky/

Again, simplified form. This work by El Lissitzky plays around with type and layout, not conforming to traditional techniques. New fonts (at the time) are also used. 

Miedinger M, Hoffman H,(1957), 'Helvetica Typeface' 

http://www.strangebeautiful.net/muse/helvetica/helvetica_post.gif

Sans serif font, form follows function. Global appeal. No decorative qualities.

Essay Feedback

FEEDBACK

Re-draft:

 - needs more sources

 - quotes etc

 - looking at different opinions/views and linking it in with the artwork from the period

 - evidence needed of how the research is being applied